Changed Direction

Changed Direction Part 9

Chapter 9: George

Emilia, where are you?

Emilia, are you up?

Emilia, we have to be on the road in under an hour!

Emilia????

I have sent this girl ten text messages this morning. No reply. Every time I call I get sent straight to voicemail. What on earth is going on with the little princess this morning? I try calling again.

"Hey, you've reached Emilia Parke! I can't come to the phone right now, but I'll get back to you just as soon as I can!"

Darn it, Emilia. This is your concert tour. It's your responsibility to get out of bed on time! Good gracious, is she immature. I didn't even want to manage her. George Mendez is a professional. George Mendez could work for any celebrity he wants to. Big time Hollywood stars. So why am I stuck working for an immature little girl who can't take anything seriously? Yeah, yeah, I know the answer to that. I might have been fired by Yolanda Starr- morning talk show host of The Sunrise View- shortly before Emilia found me. There may have been something about embezzlement or missing funds. Whatever. Yolanda was a nightmare to work for. The fact of the matter is I was without a paycheck and needed a job. Emilia was just a scared teenage girl all alone in Los Angeles, former child actress who managed to hitchhike back to the city from somewhere in rural Nebraska. I needed a paycheck and I kind of admired her spunk. She was a determined young thing, and anyway I thought managing a teenage runaway would make a good story. Luckily for me, the girl had some talent and I could make her famous and myself very rich.

I do not like working for Emilia, though. In fact, I down right hate it. As soon as I got her on Popstar Wars the news stories died down. The reporters were no longer interested in the teenage runaway. She made it to Los Angeles and found a role on a television show. That's not interesting. Tons of kids manage to get on TV. There was a new, more interesting, story to follow. I was stuck managing a fourteen-year-old girl with fourteen-year-old girl interests. Nail polish. Shopping. Making friends with other fourteen-year-old girls. Reading books for school. Well, other teenagers may not like that part, but Emilia did. I had to know what she was supposed to do for schoolwork. It was basically homeschooling. Miserable. I felt more like a parent than a manager. Me, George Mendez, professional manager, had to spend four years teaching Algebra and English to a high schooler. She probably needed me to be like a parent or a teacher, though, since her parents were back in Nebraska and I was the only adult in her life.

Sure, I am good at my job. Check that. I am great at my job. I helped Emilia get into singing. I encouraged her to be a singer as well as an actress. Why not utilize all the talents she has? It was me who worked tirelessly with marketers to make Emilia's first album a success. I orchestrated her tours and made sure she stayed safe. I never let her out of my sight on that first tour. Or the second. Or the third. I made that girl famous. Emilia would never have even auditioned for Wiz University if it wasn't for me. She was thinking about just concentrating on her music after Popstar Wars, but I didn't want her to lose the credibility she had as an actress. I also didn't want her to only be known for being on youth shows. I didn't want to be known as some kiddie manager- basically a babysitter. Emilia needed someone bigger and better. Something that would increase her popularity. Something that would increase my paycheck. The more famous I make Emilia, the more other celebrities respect me. That means- hopefully- new job offers from A-list celebrities. The kind of people who won't lose focus on their career as soon as a boy comes into the picture. That's one of the things I dreaded about dealing with Emilia. I knew even when she was new to Los Angeles that sooner or later there would be boy drama. Teenage girls lose sight of everything the second a shirtless boy passes their way. Just another thing I can't stand about teenage girls. I needed a better career with a better celebrity.